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A Celebrity Stands Up

We all love a good laugh from our friends at Judd Apatow Productions now and again.

Over the past 10 years Judd Apatow has created a dynasty, creating movies and television with the intent of getting us to laugh at alcohol, weed, and overall idiotic debauchery. This has been an incredible success, with movies like Superbad, Knocked Up, Pineapple express, and The 40 Year Old Virgin becoming cult classics among younger audiences. These movies have created just as many Judd Apatow stars, turning average people like Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill, James Franco, and Jason Segal into household names. As of today though it looks as if one of these actors is trying to change his name for the better.

Seth Rogan went before the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services recently to discuss the role of Alzheimer’s disease in his family and how it is a much more dangerous disease than many know or care about. He mixes jokes and a heartfelt story seamlessly in his speech as he discusses the implications the disease has had on his wife’s mother and father and the shame of the disease that many do not know about. As he states for his reason to come before the committee, “One, I’m a huge ‘House of Cards’ fan. … Two, people need more help. I’ve personally witnessed the massive amount of financial strain this disease causes. … Three, to show people they are not alone, so few people share their personal stories.”

The men themselves

For me I see this act as a bold stand that isn’t seen often enough in today’s media environment. Think about it for a minute, how many people would have watched this video if it didn’t have Seth Rogan speaking in it? It would probably still be at the bottom of Youtube around 1,000 views. Rogan discusses in his speech about how he’s standing up because it takes a voice like his to get people interested in a discussion, and I think in this day and age he is absolutely right. We see celebrity and star endorsements all the time, often for products they’re trying to sell us. When it comes to an issue people are passionate about in life, those endorsements get a whole lot smaller. We see it from time to time, with Matt Damon is heavily involved with his H20Africa campaign bringing clean water to third world countries or Sandra Bullock and her Doctors without Borders contributions, but these are outliers. It takes an loud and important voice to bring an issue to light that many may not be aware of beforehand, but if it leads to the advancement of future benefit, then maybe it will be worth it for more celebrities to raise their voices.

I think it’s amazing when celebrities are aware that their fame can not only bring laughs and entertainment, but the success that it brings can also create a voice that is heard much louder when discussing something that they believe in as Seth Rogen did with Alzheimer.